“C’mon Carina, let’s look for something more exciting. We’ve been doing nothing but skiing for six hours!” Julie said hopefully.
“There’s nothing here to do except ski. There are only snowy mountains.” I objected.
After a minute of contemplating, Julie had a moment of brilliance. “Let’s go penguin-sliding!” I nodded, pretending that I knew exactly what penguin-sliding was, which I didn’t. However, I did have the faintest idea.

A couple moments later, we were standing atop a long, steep run, a double-black specially picked out for us by Julie.
“Now take off your skis and poles and throw them down the mountain. Well, at least as far as you can. Then, get down on your belly and slide after them but don’t leave your skis behind. Simply stop when you’ve caught up to them.”
As easy as Julie made it sound, it was not a piece of cake. In fact, the very second I stepped out of my skis, I was whipped right on my butt!!
I was off.

“Ahhhhoooooooooooooo!” I tried to stop right away, of course. My equipment was still at the top of the hill! But as I tried to dig my boots in the soft, slippery snow, it only got me a handful of snow in my face and my mouth! Besides, I was going way too fast. Stopping was out of the question.

Once I came to the conclusion that I could not stop, let alone slow down, I decided to enjoy myself. It was kind of like a roller coaster, only ten times faster. I was the bird to the sky; the shark to the water; the cheetah to the plains.

All of the sudden, I noticed trees towering above me. Straight in front of me! I was headed right for them and if I didn’t find a way to stop myself, I was as good as dead. Frantically, I rolled from side to side, desperate for a way to stop. It was useless. There was nothing I could do.

I could only think of one more thing to do. Left to my last resort, I shut my eyes as tight as they allowed and starting counting. It was my best hope. Or, more like, my only hope. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6……..

Slowly, I felt myself come to a stop. Cautiously, I opened my eyes.

I was safe!!!!! I had barely missed the trees and luckily slid by them, most likely missing them by a millimeter. Then, I remembered Julie.

“Julie!” I called. She was attempting to throw both our skis down the hill with no luck when the slope got the best of her, too!

Unlike me, Julie tried rolling to stop herself, which only sped her up even more. When she managed to position herself on her butt, she had a face full of snow.

Just like that, it all came spilling out of me. I couldn’t stop laughing! There I was, sitting at the bottom of a ski run, with no skis or poles while a snow monster was headed straight for me, going at a speed of what seemed like 300 miles per hour.

Julie slid down the whole run, stopping right in front of the trees. As I trudged over to my friend, she started laughing too and we were both caught in a spasm of giggles.

That’s when we remembered what we left behind, lonesome at the top of the hill.